Local author draws a crowd in Brevard

Megan Shepherd, 31, has spent her entire life around books. She worked for years at her parents’ Brevard bookstore, pouring over the authors and pages of the books she loved.

By JOEY MILLWOODTimes-News staff writer

BREVARD - Megan Shepherd, 31, has spent her entire life around books. She worked for years at her parents’ Brevard bookstore, pouring over the authors and pages of the books she loved.On Tuesday afternoon, just a mile up the road at the Transylvania County Public Library, Shepherd spoke to a room of nearly 50 people about her new book, “The Madman’s Daughter,” which has been published by HarperCollins. Fake Empire, a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures, has purchased the film rights. And her book now rests on the shelves that she tended to while working for her parents, Tim and Peggy Hansen, at Highland Books.“Seeing my book in the middle of that was so surreal,” Shepherd said.Her book is a retelling of “The Island of Dr. Moreau,” with her own spin on the popular tale to make it more appealing to a teenage audience. The book is the first in a trilogy, which will be followed by “Her Dark Curiosity.” That book will be released in January and is the retelling of the classic, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” The third will focus on “Frankenstein.” Shepherd will follow that with an original trilogy.Tuesday, the Asheville resident discussed her experiences in re-imagining classics with the crowd, using her book as an example. She talked about the art of retelling classic literature in a way that would appeal to a younger audience. She used a slideshow presentation to describe the different factors that go into the literary art and the different perspectives that can be taken, and also discussed how often it’s been done in not only books, but in movies.Shepherd got the idea for her book from the television series “Lost.” After the show went off the air, the withdrawals were just too much, she joked.“When it went off the air, I missed having a mysterious island in my life,” she laughed.The crowd, which included both friends and fans, listened intently and participated in a question-and-answer session after the presentation. The fact that the crowd included friends brought a little pressure, Shepherd said.“It made me nervous because it’s a lot of familiar faces,” she added. One of those faces was Margie Kashdin. During the question-and-answer session, the Brevard resident jumped from her seat to let Shepherd know just how much she loved the book.Kashdin, like most people in the room, first saw “The Madman’s Daughter” at Highland Books. It piqued her interest, but she didn’t buy immediately. A subsequent trip to Highland Books, however, pushed her over the edge. She read Shepherd’s book and followed it up with a reading of “The Island of Dr. Moreau.” When she stood on Tuesday, Kashdin told the author that she enjoyed the modern version of the tale much more the version written by H.G. Wells.“It really surprised me,” Kashdin said.For more information on Shepherd, visit www.meganshepherd.com.Reach Millwood at 828-694-7881 or at joey.millwood@blueridgenow.com.